GOLDEN, Colo. – The #18-ranked Colorado School of Mines Women's Basketball team closed its appearance in the 2022 RMAC Tournament on Friday night with a 61-54 loss to CSU Pueblo in the first of two semifinals at Lockridge Arena.
The loss came despite a combined 23 points from
Denali Pinto and
Courtney Stanton. Pinto finished with 13 points, six rebounds, two steals and one block. Stanton notched 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal.
Ashley Steffeck rounded out the notable performances with a little bit of everything as she poured in nine points while adding five rebounds, five steals and five assists.
Liz Holter and
Megan Van de Graaf each dished out two assists as well while Holter contributed multiple steals.
Mines (25-5) won the turnover battle by a 20-18 margin and racked up 11 steals. However, CSU Pueblo (23-7) shot over 40 percent from the floor and limited the Orediggers to 23 percent from three-point range and under 30 percent overall. Despite losing the turnover battle, the ThunderWolves produced three more steals than the home team and also blocked seven shots in the game. Mines held advantages on the glass (38-36), in assists (12-9) and at the free-throw line where the Orediggers shot 76 percent compared to 61 percent by "The Pack." With the win, fourth-seeded CSU Pueblo advances to the RMAC Tournament final to face sixth-seeded MSU Denver which upset second-seeded and #25-ranked Colorado Mesa in the second semifinal of the night.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Friday's first semifinal had all the makings of a knock-down, drag-out showdown, and in some aspects that's exactly what it was. There were three ties and three lead changes, the lead for either team only reached double digits once and both teams produced identical, 7-0 scoring runs. In the spirit of two of the best defenses in the country, it even took nearly three minutes of game action for the first points to fall. It was Van de Graaf drawing first blood with a layup off a dime from Steffeck. However, the Orediggers only found the lead one more time. That was at 9-8 on a pair of free throws from Holter.
Scoring draughts throughout the game doomed Mines. The biggest was a 4:45 run without any points in the middle of the second quarter. That allowed CSU Pueblo to build a 10-point lead – its largest of the game, but back-to-back three-pointers cut the Oredigger deficit back to single digits. That proved to be the theme for the rest of the game as the home team pulled within three points on multiple occasions and even got within one point at 29-28 with 7:52 to play in the third quarter. Even with 48 seconds remaining in the game, Mines battled back within three points on Stanton's layup. The Orediggers even forced a turnover to have a chance to tie it, but committed a turnover themselves right after. That all but sealed their fate as "The Pack" was perfect at the charity stripe down the stretch.
NOTABLES
- Friday's loss drops Mines to 1-2 against CSU Pueblo during the 2021-22 season.
- The Orediggers are now 4-2 in the RMAC Tournament since 2019.
-
Sammy Van Sickle blocked two shots on Friday night to reach 100 blocks in her career.
- Van Sickle's five points against WCU put her over 700 points for her career.
- Head Coach
Brittany Simpson is now 174-106 in her 10th season with Mines.
WHAT'S NEXT
The Orediggers now await the NCAA Selection Show scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m. to see if they will earn an at-large berth in the South Central Region Tournament. All postseason updates will be published at www.minesathletics.com.
Fans can keep up with Mines women's basketball on Twitter and Instagram at @MinesWBB. They can also keep up with Colorado School of Mines Athletics all year long on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram using the handle @MinesAthletics.
